Rebuked!!!

Collin!!! Mister Pipster making me proud all the time! You libero ball digging champion of pure awesomeness you! MAN I’m just feeling so much love from the fam right now! I got emails from everyone! So let’s get right down to the business…this week has been crazy!!! UPS, downs, crazy experiences…I never do it justice in my emails so maybe one day you guys will have to fly down and spend some time with me ;) To respond…I love the baby chicks story... peep peep peep peep. And dad, you have too much faith in mom. 5 days is all she’ll last.  She is no fun (as Ava said). :) As for volleyball… man that would be so crazy to watch! Good job, go Highland hawks, and yes sadly I remember the getting lined up according to our skills and being thrown pointless statistics and then being absolutely rebuked.!

TORNADOES!!!!!!! So this Friday we were out tracting and out of nowhere these super loud alarms went off! So Elder Bills and I made a mad dash to Sister Miller’s house in our ward (she has a basement). When we got inside, Sister Miller was on the floor crying uncontrollably. When she saw us, she said that her grand daughter was riding her bike to her house! So Elder Bills and I ran back out and it was seriously something straight out of The Other Side of Heaven. Leaves and twigs and all sorts of stuff were whipping past us in the wind. Luckily, we found the girl fast and she was holding onto a stop sign as tight as she could! We tried to grab her but she wouldn't let go and then we started pulling her leg and pulling and pulling and well yeah, kinda like how I am pulling on yours... sorry that was a waste of time. It had to be done though. :) We did have a tornado warning though, but they hit Oklahoma instead. COOL HUH?!

So back to for serious... This week I think Thursday I got pretty upset with a lot of different things. It was probably one of the hardest days of my mission and I can’t really explain why, but I was just super tired and worn out. So right at 9:30 p.m. when planning was done, I got right into my Captain America shirt and sweats, but I was not feeling like a hero in any way. I brushed my teeth and wrote in my journal about everything I was frustrated about. I think when I got to complaint number 6, the Spirit just REBUKED me saying “you’re being a real idiot (pardon the french). So I started to pray. I won’t go into too much detail, but it’s the craziest thing…prayer works!!! I’m happy to report that from Friday on I am back to old optimistic, happy me! Which is funny because now looking back, I have been out for just about as much time as I did pest control, and without a doubt this has been easier! Not because the work is any easier but because I have SOOOO much more help in doing the work that I need to do here on my mission.

I might have to cut this letter short because I need to email my favorite cousin in the whole world, but let me tell you some of the highlights of this week.

1. We had a super awesome dinner with some Samoans in our ward! The Olamelavas and the Terrys. We ate huge steak burgers, rice chips and, Gatorade. Yeesh, maybe I don’t want to go to New Zealand ;)

2. Sunday, Elder Bills and I had a last second assignment to teach gospel principles on prophets. WORST LESSON EVER! There was a girl named Laura-Denise (don’t forget the hyphen or she will cut you). She is African American and has born testimony of her anger issues this past fast Sunday... so before class we introduced the whole class to our recent convert Johnathan Stapelton by saying their name and greatest fear. Laura-Denise said she hated creepy crawlies and that she hated the name and everything about them. When Elder Bill’s turn came he said he couldn’t think of a fear so I said "aren’t you afraid of SPIDERS" without realizing I named the thing which should not be named. Laura-Denise began to dig in her bag for something to throw at me. I still don’t know what it was, but luckily I dodged it because it was big and black and made a huge clang against the chalkboard behind me. Then to start the lesson, all manner of false doctrine came out of her mouth about how the prophets aren't always right.  I almost lost my cool and sent her out but patience prevailed. Oh, and don’t worry, we resolved all the false doctrine preached.

3. We met a girl named Kaylani. She is what I like to refer to as a halficuz (half poly half white). There are a ton in Blue Springs Missouri! She is 16 and not a member. Her parents aren't really in the best relationship so she is currently staying with her grandparents who are super awesome influences and members of the LDS church! We taught a super good lesson and asked her if she would like to learn more, and she said definitely! She is also a volleyball player and really good looking, but that’s not the important things to mention…just a little noteworthy...

4. We had Connie attend church (Super sweet older lady). She had a great experience and she sat in the middle in between me and the relief society president, Sister Nelson. Before church started, I explained how the meeting would go and I jokingly pre-warned her that I’m so bad at singing that even the people who are good sound bad next to me. She got a good laugh out of that one and when it came time to sing we both sang decently loud with each other and it turns out she was terrible too...

5. We taught a family with 11 GIRLS ELEVEN!!! The dad was a really friendly pastor and they let us sit on their couch as they all gathered around. It was a good message but Elder Bills and I did not have it in us to boldly say that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the ONLY true church... FAIL

I love you guys so much and think about you everyday! Good luck in volleyball and everything else.

Love,

Elder Ward

p.s. Mom GO HAVE FUN!!!